Seeding apparatus.



A. T. BUTTON @a W. E. WIDDIFIELD.

` SEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 191s.

l ,081 ,720, Patented Deo. 16, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1` myEN-TORS.

Q/.JBuICon/; y

WAMWW A. T. BUTTON & W. P. WIDDIFIELD. SEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 191s.

LM'Q, Patented-Dec. 16, 1913 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2'.

Plena..

WWNESSES; IN-VENTORS.

essi." marins-ts corr unirme smrns rnirENt-r OFFICE.

Anson r. sU'rr'oN No warsoN' r. w'DDIFIsLD, or Uxsiunos, oNrAitio,CANADA. Bremse- APPARATUS.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. "1o, 1919.

spontanen sied my?, 1913. serial m. 777,721.

Tb all whom, may concern.' v

Be it known that we, Ansonl T; BUTTONI andWA'rsN Pt Wmmrmnb, of the townof Uxbridge, in the Proviiice of Ontario, Canada, have. invented certainnew and useL ful Improvements in Seeding'Apparatus, of i which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention'l relates to apparatus intended'perticularly 'for use insowing grain .in drills -and our objcct`is to devise apparatus whichwill sow the grain in drills uri-*- der conditions as nearly ideally"perfect as possible'. y

It has been found experimentally that grain should be sown in drills'ofeven depth 'thron hout and evenly covered with soil,

and 'at prefeiabiy the soil in which the grain is sown should be wellcompacted, and less Spread out rlther. than concentrated in the bottomof e wedge shape drilL We obtain the de` siied conditions by meins ofapparatus which may be briefly described as follow A suitable frame workvcarries e. rotary drum provided 'with circumferential ribs.

-These ribs are adapted to form drills or depressions in the soil withdat bottoms, which drills will necessarilybe of even depth. The surfaceof the soil after the-usuel preparation' is, immediately beforetliell'ee'd issown, stirred up suitable harrowfwhicli pref .muy ismutata with homme worker thcapparatus in front of .the

heinibefore referred to. suitably connected-with the apparatus so. as-todischarge seed into the drills inmediately behindthegdruni isl* anordinary ."soil is lightly stirred with a suitable hai-'row distributingdevice. Also. connected with the frame work of the appa ratus Vis asuitable device for covering in the drills. Immediately after covering,the

to leave its surface in the best 'possible condition to avoidevaporation of moisture and -be to prevent its beingvblown up in dust.'This: barrow is also preferably connected with the frame work of theapparatus instead of being used as a separate implement. The Whole isarranged in detail substantially as hereafter described and illustratedin the accompanying drawings in which- FigureI lzis a side elevation ofoui` imioved apparatus, 2 a rear View of the rum and coverin vice, Fi l.3 a detail showing a modi of covering device;

' In the drawings like numerals of refer ence represent corresponding'parte in the different figures.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, 1 is the frame of the apparatussuitably constructed lto support the diiierent parte* On 4this framework is journuled the drum 2. This drum, as will be seen particularly'on refi= ence ,to Fig. 2, is'provided with a series of circumferentiallribs 3. These ribs with cys lindrical faces are spaced to suit the bestpractice, as determined experimentally, for

the proper growth of the greift. The spic'- 111g may vary from say 5"tof7 center to also .'va ry, probably a 'ut one and a half inchescenter. The de' th of' the ribs may being the best practice. The ribsare also tapered ls showhlto produce a drill with lsides slopingdownwardly and inward v, as

such drills best maintain their form an are more 4easily formed. Theeffect of this roller' is to even up and compress the w'hole surfacetraversed and at .the 'same' time to press parallel drills 'or groovesin the soil v with comparatively broad fiat,Y bottoms. Thisfor'msan'ideal drill Seed sowing. Immediately behind thgirunl `is locatedstruction, the seed feeding devices forming port thereof being actuatedby means of the sprocket wheel and chain 'cari 5. 'As the feedingdevices 'are old in the-art, they are not shown or described. fFrom theseed 'hopper the grain is led by the usual spouts f6. Vv'-Esich offthesespouts' 'enters a' rain tube' "I," which is suitably shaped to disia rgethe graininto`the -corresponding drill immo# diatel;r behind the drum-2. In order that' these grain tubes may be lifted out of the way whenthe apparatus is to be turned or 4transported without sowing the seed,we

support the grain tubes so that they may grain tubes are' shownconnected with a bar 8, which bar is connected to rock arms 9,-Oo'nneoted with a shaft 10, journaled on the frame of the apparatus.` Itis evident that.

by rocking this shaft the grain tubes may besimultaneously raised. In Fii l, the.

2 10s move be rocked to raise the grain tubes by means of the rock arm12 secured to the shaft and connected by means of the connecting rod 13with a foot lever 111 suitably located adjacent to the drivers seat 15.p

n After the seed .grain has been deposited in the drills, the drills arecovered in. XVe

do not desire to limit ourselves to any specific means for eiecting thecovering. Ne

may, lfor example, employ a serrated drag 1g 20, the serrations beingpreferably formed by semi-circular notches in theiedge of the bar. "Ihepoints of the teethof the drag correspond with the center l-ines of thespaces between the drills. Thisdrag is con- 15 nected with the frame ofthe apparatus by means of the draft rods 21. Instead of the' drag, aroller 22 or series ofrollers, such as illustrated in Fig. might beemployed. Each roller will spana drill, as shown and a0 roll the earthinto the same -to cover the seed. ALsl already stated, a preliminaryharrowing of the soil is desirable immediately before the drills arecompressed therein. 25 For this purpose we provide any suitable forni otbarrow. A spike tooth barrow 1G,

I v l. such as shown 1n Fig. '1, 1s suitable for our purpore. This isconnected by means of draft .chainsI 17 with the frame of theapparatiis. A light harrowing is, we yconsider,"prefcrable immediatelyfollowing the covering in. For' thisp'urposewe provide the barrow 18which is formed with comparatively short rearwardly inclined teeth,

and is connected by dra-ft rods or chains 1 with the frame oftheapparatus. y

For convenience in turning or inl trans poraton it is necessary thatmeans be pro- 'viderl to lift the har-rows and drag from y 4o the groundand also to cut ol'the seed feed.

The cut-oil .of the feed may be readily ettected by utilizing themovement of the rock arm 12, whichA may be connected by means' of aconnectingr rod 23, with a rock arm-24, which may be connected With anyof the ordinary cut-oit devices employed with grain seeders. The harrowsand drag-may bef-raised bymeans of the hand lever 25, suitably pivotedadjacent to the seat 15.

lto The lower end ot this lever is connected by means of the connectinglrod 26 with a lever 27 fulcrumed intermediate its end on the frame ofthe apparatus.' The lower end of this lever may be connected by means ofrods or chains 28 with the harrow 18 and also by means of the rods orchains 29 with the drag 20. A cord or chain connected with tliehandlever 25 is passed around the sheave 31 and connected with the rear of=the -harro'w 16. From thisk connection, it is evident that 'by rockingthe'hand lever both the harrows and the drag bar may be simultaneouslyraised. It will be understood,

of course, that we do not desire to limit ourv selves to the exactdetails of construction shown, as this may lie varied widely withf ontdeparting from the spiritof our invention.

With the 'apparatus as described it will be seen that by means of thebarrow 16 the soil is' brought into the best possible condition to beoperated on by the drum 2. This drum iolloWing the harrow compacts andpulverizis the whole surface of the soil and simultaneously' forms thedrills by further compacting the soil at regular intervals'. Into theseregular well compacted furrows of even depth the "seed is fed,scattering itself well over the relatively Wide bottoms ot' the drills.Thereafter these drills are filled in by the coveringl device. Owing tothe thorough preparation of the soil and the even height of the soilbetween the drills above the bottom of the drills, the seed will beevenly covered` in each drill and at all points in the length .of eachdrill. Thereafter the soil is lightly stirred by the following barrowto' leave its surface in thebestpossible condition to resist the effectsof drought or Wind.V

What. Weclaim as our invention is 1. .In seeding apparatus thecombination oi a frame; a roller journaled'thereon pro-v vided withcylindrical faced circumferenrtial ribs and adaptedto press drills inthe A soil with comparatively broad dat bottoms;

and seed distributing' means carried by lthe so formed. l

2. In seeding apparatus the combination of a trame; a roller journaledthereon provided with cylindrical faced circumferential ribs and adaptedto press drills in the soil with comparatively broad Hat bottoms;` seeddistributing means carried by the frame and adapted to feed seed tothedrills so formed and covering means connected with the trame adapted tofill -in the drills. 4 A 3. In seeding apparatus the combination`- of aframe; a harrow provided with cylindrical faced circumferential ribs andconnected therewith; a roller journaled on the trame behind the harrowand adapted toA press drills in the soil with comparatively broad flatbottoms; and covering means conieeltled with the frame adapted to ll the4. In seeding apparatus the combination of a frame; a barrow connectedtherewith; a circumferentially ribbed roller journaled on the framebehind the barrow and adapt. ed to press drills in the soil; coveringmeans connected with the" frame adapted to fill in the drills; and abarrow connected with the frame and adapted to roughen the surface ofthesoil after the covering in of the drills. In seeding :pparatus thecombination ofY a-frame; :nro er journaled thereon pro vided withcylindrical faced circumferential ribs'snd adapted to press drillsjn thesoil;

frame and adapted to feed seed to the drillsv 4 seed distributing meanscarried by the frame and adapted to feed vseed to the .drills so formed;covering means connected with the frame adapted to fill in the drills;and

- means on the frame for raising the covering means at will.

6. In seeding apparatus the combination of a frame;\a narrow providedWith cylindrieal faced circumferential ribs and connected therewith; aroller journaledon the .iframe behind the harroW and adapted faolpress-drills in Jche soil with comparatively broad flat bottoms;covering means connected with the frame adapted to ll in the drills; andmeans on the frame for simultaneously raising the barrow and coveringmeans at will.'

7. In seeding apparatus the combination "of a frame; aharrow connectedtherewith;

a eircmnferentially ribbed roller journaled on the frame behind theharrow and adapted to press drills in the soil; covering means connectedwith the frame adapted to ll in 'the drills; a -harroW connected withthe Anson T. BUTTON. WATSON r. WIDDIFIELD.

Signed in the presence of#- J. Enw. MAYBEE, E. P. HALL.

copies* of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner ot Patenti,

Washington, D. G.

